


MCC9 Blue Bats | MCC11 Lime Liches Oneshots & Drabbles!

by TsunamiStarz



Series: MCC9 Blue Bats [4]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft championship - Fandom
Genre: Alpha Brandon | PeteZahHutt, Alpha Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Alpha Fruitberries, Alpha GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Alpha Liam | HBomb94, Alpha Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dream is a big fat biatch to the Hermits but that’s ok because they beat him up, Gen, Lord Grian Dreamslayer baybeee, MCC11 Lime Liches, MCC9 Blue Bats, Male Pregnancy, No Smut, Omega Charles | Grian, Omega FalseSymmetry, Omega RentheDog, Pack Bonding, Pack Building, Pack Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsunamiStarz/pseuds/TsunamiStarz
Summary: ~Requests Open~I decided that this fandom needs more content, and because the community is so small yet so passionate, I decided to open up requests to my loyal readers of my three other works for this group.Long May Blue Bats & Lime Liches rule!
Relationships: Charles | Grian/Fruitberries, FalseSymmetry & Brandon | PeteZahHutt & Charles | Grian & Fruitberries, FalseSymmetry & Fruitberries & Liam | HBomb94 & Rendog, FalseSymmetry & Fruitberries & Liam | HBomb94 & Rendog & Charles | Grian
Series: MCC9 Blue Bats [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986085
Comments: 39
Kudos: 163





	1. ~Requests~

Requests always open! Can be platonic or romantic. And any AU if you’d like, as well. Just no smut. I won’t do that.


	2. Honorary Hermit

Grian reached into his worn leather satchel, and pulled out a roughly cut, crudely stitched badge; roughly the size of his palm. It was fade yellow in color, with two platinum blue H’s stitched in the middle, and its shape resembled a medieval knight’s shield. The golden blonde walked over to Josh, who was deeply invested into his conversation with Liam about their participation-to-win ratios in Dodgebolt. The conversation was stopped, however, when the two noticed the smaller male and they delivered bright smiles.

“Grian, tell me, who has the better participation to win ratio? Me or Josh?”

Startled by being put on the spot, the golden blond sputtered. “Uh, Fruity B,” he blurted.

“Oh come on!” Liam groaned incredulously, whilst Josh held his hand out with an offered high-five. Grian returned it generously, and also offered the badge.

“Here, Fruity B. I made this for you,” Josh took it, and inspected it closely. “Stitching is not my forte, but I thought you deserved a physical representation of the title ‘Honorary Hermit’, which I am giving to you right now,”

Josh chuckled, sticking the badge on his jacket. “Thanks man,”

“Okay now this is just plain disrespectful at this point,” Liam muttered under his breath, eliciting a giggle from Grian.

“It just goes to show that I’m better than you,” Josh stuck his tongue out at Liam, pulling an exasperated gasp from the other.

“Oh, fight me. Fight me right now,” Liam challenged.

Josh blew a raspberry, grabbed his sword, and ran out into the large backyard of the five’s shared home, Liam giving chase with an arsenal of angry shouts, and leaving Grian a ball of giggles on the couch.


	3. Unorthodox Parkour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five are training parkour, and Grian—in a fit of frustration—cheeses it a bit...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Req by Ghaniya1908!
> 
> Apologies if this is a bit all over the place. I’m in love with the Grian&Fruit combo and I can’t stop naturally writing them-
> 
> Also this wasn’t beta read-

Josh swiftly jumped from platform to platform, grabbing the support bars needed to circumvent neos and trapdoor-heavy jumps. Liam followed, though much slower and a bit clunkier, still displaying the skill and muscle-memory he’d built up over the years. They both stopped on the platform at the end of the section of practice obstacles, and turned to look at the three Hermits who still stood at the beginning.

“It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it,” Josh’s voice was loud and steady, carrying across the large expanse of obstacles. “You just need to find your footing and engrave that into your brain. It requires pretty powerful foot-eye coordination, but once you’ve got that down, it comes naturally,”

“You sound like Mumbo when he’s explaining complex redstone machinery,” Grian huffed, crossing his arms. “‘It’s really quite simple’,” He said, forming air quotes with his fingers. “Truth is, it comes naturally to some, and the opposite of naturally to others,”

Ren nodded in agreement to this, flicking one of his ears and swaying his tail nervously. “Yeah it’s… yeah it gets pretty hard…”

Josh jumped down onto the large trampoline that made up the floor of the parkour practice building (to catch those who fall and make it as comfortable as possible) and hopped back to the start. Jumping up to stand alongside the Hermits, he set a hand on Grian’s shoulder. “Hey, it’ll be alright. You guys got this. You’re more than capable of mastering parkour. Maybe it takes some time, that’s fine. We’ll be with you guys the whole way through,” He offered, presenting a reassuring smile to the golden blond.

Grian rubbed his arm, his gray feathers fluffing up. “‘Mastering’ is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

“Of course not! Don’t put yourself down like that. I believe in you guys. Liam does, too,” Liam, who had also hopped back to the start, nodded in confirmation to this. “You just need to believe in yourself. Now, let’s just start from the beginning and work out way through,”

* * *

After the twentieth fail in a row of a single obstacle (the hole-in-the-wall glass trapdoors, to be exact) Grian gave an exasperated shout and jumped back to the start platform. With Liam busy explaining the yellow neos to False and Ren, Josh ran up to the fuming golden blond and gingerly placed his hand on Grian’s shoulder.

“Hey, it’ll be alright. You’re doing great-“ Grian aggressively shrugged Josh’s hand off his shoulder and rolled his shoulders and wings before spreading the large feathery limbs. Without a single word, Grian was off. With powerful flaps, he utilized his wings to propel himself off of certain jumps, and to save himself from falling off others. He weaved through the hanging glass panes, thread the narrow needles of the hole-in-the-glass-walls. He didn’t bother with the slime jumps, just gliding over it before touching down on the other side to still gain the checkpoint. Same with the ladders. The yellow headhitters were treated similarly to the HitW glass jumps, with Grian simply and expertly threading the needles. Without missing a beat, he clutched each ladder neo, glided past the ‘Take the L’s’, and climbed the salmon ladder with ease. At the top of the course, he sat in the throne and rested his wings from the sudden burst of energy. Josh scrambled up the salmon ladder (after skipping through the entire course just to keep up with the avian) and stared up at the golden blond sat in the finishing throne with awe.

“Wh… you did that so fast! What was your time?” Josh asked, disbelief flooding his expression.

“3:19:07,” Grian read off the timer on his wrist. “I’d like to see Dream beat that,” the golden blond said victoriously. Both their eyes flicked to the leaderboard on the wall of the small throne room, and it proudly stated Grian’s name above Dream’s. The disbelief never left Josh.

Grian easily read Josh’s face, smirking slightly. “I told you, Fruity B,” he popped the nickname playfully. “If the gap’s big enough to throw an item through, I will fly through it. I may not be able to accomplish jumps with my wings tied, but I can fly any course,” he spread the huge limbs slightly with emphasis. “And that’s a fact,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I headcanon avian Grian and werewolf Ren, deal with it.


	4. Warmth and Broken Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parkour of MCC11 was brutal, there’s no doubt about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, this turned into another mostly Grian/Fruit centric oneshot >,< I’m sorry.
> 
> OOC characters in this one too, but necessary for the storyline.
> 
> This was not beta read

The bright, mockingly happy color of the Lime Liches stared at the four from its placement second-to-last on the Parkour Warrior scoreboard sinisterly. Even the neon lime resting in fourth on the overall scoreboard was tilting, and that only made it worse. Ren stood leant against False, tail tucked and ears flat against his head as he muttered how completely unfair the changes were to sub-par parkourers. Liam had even excused himself from his teammates to walk over to the two, whispering reassurances to the werewolf hybrid, and forming a sandwiched hug around him with False. They all stood in silence, quietly shushing Ren when the werewolf tried to repeat his apologies about letting the team down. 

Not far away from them, Josh had Grian in a tight embrace. The golden blond was sobbing nonstop apologies to him, and Josh only held him tighter. Grian buried his face into the crook of the taller’s neck, wrapping his wings around them. Heart twisted with emotion, Josh rested his chin on Grian’s head, the soft, golden blond curls tickling his face slightly. But he didn’t have the ability to laugh, nor did he want to. No number of tickles could get him to be happy in this moment, because two of his teammates were blaming themselves for their team’s downfall, and were talking themselves down so harshly. Maybe one could say that it was, in fact, their faults that their team placement had dropped, but Josh would be damned to blame them. It wasn’t their fault the Noxcrew decided to change so much of the course. They tried their best, and Josh would honor that. Grian clinging to him as if his life depended on it was his sole focus, his energy going into reassuring the golden blond, as well as massaging mindless patterns on his back, right between his wings. Josh’s right hand cradled the back of Grian’s neck, holding him closely as they shared the warmth of their bodies, the sharp October cold biting at any exposure. Ignoring any stares they were probably receiving, Josh closed his eyes and continued whispering gently, shushing Grian quietly whenever endless bouts of ‘I’m sorry’’s threatened to pour from the golden blond’s lips. “Hey, it’s okay. Everything will be fine,” He murmured softly. “Deep breaths, Grian. You did amazing, stop degrading yourself. You’re incredible,” Grian whimpered, his wings hugging Josh tighter. “I single-handedly brought the team down,” Grian muttered bitterly. “I wouldn’t call that ‘doing amazing’,” Josh pulled away slightly to bring Grian’s chin up, making eye contact with the teary-eyed golden blond. “Hey, stop that. You tried your best,” Grian wasn’t able to respond before they both noticed Dream approaching them. The golden blond immediately returned to their former position, seemingly trying to fall so deep into Josh’s embrace that he’d disappear. Josh couldn’t deny that his arms wrapped back around the smaller protectively at the certain glint in Dream’s exposed right eye, similar to how Josh wore his mask. The two masked men stared at each other for a beat before Dream spoke up. 

“Stooping to new lows, Josh?” Half of the cocky smirk Dream bore was exposed, and Josh realized with Dream’s nod towards the Hermit clinging to him what he was implying. An aggressive breath barely made it through his teeth before he recomposed himself and spoke.

“I believe the one stooping to new lows is you, Clay, if you walked over here only to insult those who have lives outside of a parkour practice arena,” It took a lot of self control for Josh to not bear the sword sheathed on his hip and run Clay through right there. He’d beaten this man before, he could do it again.

“I don’t think lives dedicated to building unnecessarily large bases is any better,”

“Is there something you need, Clay?” Josh seethed, feeling the dampening of his shirt increasing, and he realized with dread that the tears gathering at the edges of Grian’s eyes were falling now.

“Yes, actually. I came to thank you for the second place, it really made us all happy. You’re a very, very thoughtful man, Fruit,” The sinister glint in Clay’s eye never left. “But unfortunately, your strength cannot take the weight of three corpses any longer,” Clay crossed his arms. “Must feel bad, having to carry a team all by yourself,”

“They’re not deadweight, Clay,” Josh growled. “They’ve worked harder to prove themselves than you ever will,”

“Yeah, because I’ve already proven myself,”

Josh opened his mouth to retaliate, but another new voice spoke from beside him.

“This is, in no way, a proper method of speaking to a sensei,” the deep voice was instantly recognizable as the one and only Technoblade, confirmed when Josh glanced beside him before turning back to facing Clay. Clay’s bright emerald eye went cold at the sight of the piglin hybrid and he scoffed.

“His training may have led you to beating me in our duel, but he’ll never be my sensei,” With that, Clay decided to rejoin his team, and a good choice at that; Josh was so close to stabbing that man. Techno turned to look at him, and dipped his head slightly. “Apologies for his behavior, sensei,”

An instinctual “It’s alright” was almost out of Josh’s mouth, but it wasn’t actually alright, so he opted to bite his tongue instead and nodded. Techno’s gaze drifted to the golden blond in Josh’s arms.

“If it helps, I personally think building huge bases is a great use of time. It gives you a goal to achieve, and gives you the satisfaction of knowing you committed to something. And once it’s done, it’s a marvelous accomplishment that nobody could recreate,” Techno’s tone was soft, soothing, in a way. Josh could feel Grian’s tenseness, but at Techno’s words, he loosened up slightly. Josh only rested his head back on top of Grian’s, continuing to rub his back and cradle his neck. He sent Techno a thankful glance, and the piglin hybrid nodded again before walking off in the direction in which Dream had walked.

A sigh broke from his mouth as the teams were called to the Decision Dome to vote for the final game. He gently shook Grian. “Grian.. Grian it’s time to go vote for the next game..” 

“Just go on without me, you’ll have better chances,” Grian spat quietly.

“No, I’m not continuing on without you. Come on, don’t make me carry you,”

This roused Grian to hesitantly peel away from Josh, wiping his face on his sleeve. The wave of cold air hit him violently where Grian’s warm body had been, and he had to suppress a shiver. It seemed it hit Grian just the same way, because the golden blond didn’t hide the shiver that shook his body. Josh extended a hand silently, and Grian took it in both his hands, before letting himself be led to the Dome.


	5. A Family Divided is Still Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...but a family divided is still apart. 
> 
> And this family divided is heartbroken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was heartbroken when I saw Josh on his own for the roster so I channeled it into a oneshot. Apologies for more Josh sad boi hours. Good day.

When Josh first saw his name attached to the Mint Mistletoes that early morning, alongside those of GeorgeNotFound, KarlJacobs, and Ludwig, his heart dropped. Not against those in his team, it wasn't their fault. After all, he was a solo wildcard in the roster. He’d told Scott to place him wherever, and on teams with people he’d never teamed with before. That’s how he and Liam had found themselves on a team with False and Ren that fateful September day, nearly three months ago now. That had been one of the best days of his life, seeing their names altogether on the Blue Bats, even if he hadn’t realized it the day the teams had been released. But now, that decision to be a free, lone wolf was proving to be his confidence downfall. Liam hadn’t been teamed up with the Hermits at all after their crusade as the Blue Bats, unlike Josh who had stuck around to team with every Hermit competitor in the tournament. But this time, he wasn’t teamed with any of them. Before September, he would’ve been absolutely fine with that, but due to the fact that he hadn’t known any of them prior to that event. But this late November, with the release of the December teams, he was absolutely devastated. Josh found himself wallowing in his sorrows, suffering this winter of discontent. He didn’t know who the Hermits were teamed with yet, if they were even competing, but he hated it. It was threatening to return to how it’d been before the Blue Bats of tournament 9, with Liam and Josh staying to their respective teams and the Hermits living in their happy corners, disgustingly content with ninth place. And Josh didn’t want that. The audience of the tournament would go back to dismissing the Hermits, claiming that they’d only been carried in their short-lived “Golden Age” of Championships 9, 10, and 12. Even 11 was overlooked as a dud of an event for the Hermits, people only acknowledging Josh’s “incredible strength to carry three people on his shoulders” whilst their team had been on high promise to reach Dodgebolt. Had it not been for parkour, the Hermits would have proven themselves worthy to be considered exceptional participants to reach the finals with three of them on the same team. Even if they had won that event, however, the doubt resting on the Hermits’ shoulders would’ve stayed due to the Aqua Axolotls’ performance in tournament 12. Whilst Fruit and his team of Cubfan, PearlescentMoon, and Smallishbeans reached second place, the Aqua Axolotls, of Grian, FalseSymmetry, Rendog, and FWhip, tripped down to ninth. It upset Josh to see, only because they were completely fine with it. He knew they had the ability to be amazing competitors, but their self doubt dragged out their “purely survival player” instincts and left them in the dust of eighth and ninth place. Josh didn’t know about Liam, but he hated seeing such contentment in the bottom, because it only continuously dragged out the worst in the more egotistical players.

And Josh wouldn’t always be there to defend them when they ultimately get cornered by said egotistical players.

This event brought the competitive side of people out, that can’t be denied, but the toxicity is not left behind either. And that both hurt and taunted the bear at the same time. Josh can’t deny that he’s used his prestige to intimidate before, but only for a good cause of keeping away those who don’t think before they do. One could say that only strengthens the target on his back, but most don’t test him. They know who’s beaten Dream one-on-one before. But even if those who resent him are too scared to face him, it still leaves Josh in the cramped rift between soft and egotistical that makes it almost worse than being on one particular side.

Josh bit his lip, curling up further in the blanket he’d nestled into beside the fireplace. Nobody was home at the moment, leaving him surrounded by deafening silence that taunted him alongside the looming reality that he’d probably be pitted against his family every time he stepped foot into the tournament grounds.

His family was divided. Maybe not in a literal sense; they were closer than ever, actually. But in the sense of their greatest source of entertainment besides spending time together.

This event was scheduled for the 12th of December. December is known as the month of Christmas, of joy, of togetherness, when happiness spiked in intensity. In that moment, Josh couldn’t feel more alone. And his serotonin levels were definitely not through the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also today was Thanksgiving.
> 
> I AM NOT THANKFUL FOR NO FRUIT + HERMITS TEAM, SCOTT.


	6. Courting Dance with Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian joins his mate on a patrol run along the borders of their territory. Event leads to another, and encounters with painful memories occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is technically canon to an A/B/O wolf pack dynamic AU I haven’t even finished writing the first chapter of yet, but I couldn’t wait any longer to post this so. Ye. Here’s the context:
> 
> -Scott is the leader/Alpha of the Championship Pack (a pack of every participant in MCC)
> 
> -‘Underlying Alphas’ are wolves that presented as Alphas but are content living under Scott’s leadership. Example being Josh, who is a presented Alpha, but living amongst the pack.
> 
> -Point Delta is one of three dens that surround the main den “The Heart” in a triangular pattern. These three surrounding dens are referred to as the Tri-dens.
> 
> -Grian, False, Ren, and Cub were previously a part of the Hermit Pack but an ambush by rogues happened and the Championship rescued them.
> 
> That should be everything.
> 
> !!!WARNING!!! — This is HEAVILY centered around my newfound need for Griberries content. If you don’t like the two being shipped romantically, then you can carry on with your day without reading this. But don’t flame me in the comments, you got your warning.
> 
> ✨not beta’d✨

He hadn’t meant to be so aggressive towards the pack Alpha, but his hormones and emotional bond with his mate was a little touchy, and the desire to go outside and do something was extremely undeniable. Grian had intended to politely request Scott to let him accompany Josh on a trip through the Tri-dens, just as he had during their courting, before they decided to breed and start on the road to providing the pack with the first new pups in two years. Grian hadn’t known how adamant Scott was about keeping expecting wolves in the Heart, or maybe he would’ve considered waiting a tad bit more, but what was done was done, and there was no going back. Not that Grian wanted to go back. Just the thought of knowing he carried pups in him filled him with joy and fulfillment, as well as a sense of pride that he was already contributing more to the Championship pack than he had in the Hermit pack. Though that reminder was quickly shoved away. Grian had loved his old pack, don’t get him wrong, but Cub’s words telling them that Xisuma had chosen to give them up was extremely upsetting, and stressing over past issues was not the most important thing to worry about. Whenever he thought about the pups in his womb, his mind would shift over to his mate. His glorious, swift, strong, loyal mate who possessed more physical power than multiple of the Hermits combined. Josh could probably wander into their territory and scare the entire pack off the land with his physical appearance alone. That was one step of their courting that Grian checked off immediately; prove the possession of the strength needed to protect not only the two, but pups as well, and Grian didn’t need Josh to show him; he already knew. But Josh, being the sweetheart that he is, wouldn’t let Grian simply pass it off. He ended up dueling with Clay and Dave at the same time, determined to show his partner that he held great strength, despite Grian already knowing. It warmed the golden blond’s heart. Josh was a younger Alpha, having presented five years prior and reaching adulthood four years prior—the equivalent of twenty-two years old, in human terminology—yet he was able to best every warrior in the pack. Grian had never felt safer, being in the presence of his mate.

Which was why he felt more than safe to accompany Josh on patrols. It took more than a simple sentence to sway Scott, having to convince the Alpha that he’d be okay as it wasn’t the peak of his pregnancy yet, and Josh was extra capable of protecting him. So that’s why he was where he was now, glued to his mate’s side as they strolled through the forest along the Point Delta border, accompanied by False and Pete. This border held the most activity around it, but that was to be expected as it led to a massive lake where territories converged. The Championship territory held the largest portion claimed by one pack, and no neighboring packs held the audacity to challenge them for it. But despite that, patrols were still necessary; for hunting, at the very least.

They all held a comfortable silence between them as they padded quietly through the forest of towering redwoods. It was peak summer, the high noon air warm, posing a contrast to the cooler temperature levels at the bases of the trees. They were nearing the furthest border from the Heart, the Delta Stretch, where territories converged at the Red Lake. The Delta Stretch was also the longest common border the Championship pack shared with another pack. Said pack just happened to be the Hermit pack. Traveling along the stretch was emotional for the two former Hermits at first, but it ebbed away with the reassurance of the two underlying Alphas that accompanied them. Grian would cast occasional glances through the trees to a tall hill crowned with boulders, which could be seen within a mile’s radius. That hill was the highest point in the Hermit territory, where one of two dens rested. 

A quiet sigh broke from Grian as he hung his head, eyes tightly shut. Within seconds, he bore the consequences of not watching where he was walking, and his paw caught a tree root. His yelp broke the silence, and his side met the ground in startling disharmony. “Grian!” Josh was at his side instantly (well, closer to his side anyway. The Alpha stuck beside Grian every second of every day) and was performing a wide scan over the omega to ensure he was okay. The golden blond’s heart swelled with love and affection for the Alpha, shakily standing up before nuzzling him, rubbing their necks together. “I’m fine, Josh, really. I just… wasn’t watching where I was going…” The worry in Josh’s gaze diluted, but never fully vanished as the Alpha did one more quick scan over the omega, releasing a breath and licking his mate’s face affectionately before they rejoined with Pete and False, who were a few steps ahead. Grian decided to busy himself with sniffing the ground and air for potential prey to take back to the den. He didn’t miss the glances Josh sent him, to which he only rolled his eyes at playfully, remaining silent. The sun filtered through the leaves, showering them in a green-tinted light, the warmth seeping into their short summer coats. Any thoughts about the fact that they were inching closer and closer to the border between the Championship and Hermit packs were forgotten as he stiffened. “Hare,” He muttered, his ears rotating to try and catch any sound that could potentially connect to the extremely strong scent of rabbit. The other three wolves stopped, sniffing the air as well. “It’s too strong to only be one,” Pete muttered, lowering himself into a crouch. Grian did the same, stalking forward to peer through a line of bushes. There. An adult and several kits. Grian’s amber eyes glowed with predatory fierceness, salivating at the sight of the plump rabbit. Despite it not having been extremely long since his last hunt, his instincts cried out happily at the caution of stalking prey. Being cooped up at the Heart had taken a bigger toll on him than he’d realized. Any words spoken to him were blocked out as he zoned in on the rabbit, his eyes flashing over the surrounding area. No burrow to be found. Wolven instinct at its peak, Grian dashed forward with lightning speed, his jaws nearly clamping around the rabbit before it broke through the bushes towards the border. Expertly circumventing the trees, he inched closer and closer to the rabbit with every large stride, to the point where his clawtips ripped at the cottonlike tail of the hare, until finally, he managed to trip the small creature. He shut his jaws around the rabbit until its desperate attempt to escape ended. The hare now limp in his mouth, he dropped it gently on the ground and sat beside it. He hadn’t used that much energy in a while, and that combined with his pregnancy was a recipe for exhaustion. He turned to look at his growing belly. It hadn’t shown too much at first, because his previously longer fur had done wonders covering up the early growth, but with his thinner summer coat, it was blatantly obvious to those who looked that he was rounding up nicely. Now whether wolves decided it was pregnancy or due to overeating was their problem, not Grian’s.

Over his decently loud panting, Grian didn’t catch the footsteps approaching him, and when he did, his mind registered it as the rest of his party catching up to him. The issue was that he didn’t register the fact that the footsteps were approaching from ahead of him, where his former pack’s territory was. It wasn’t until a distantly familiar voice, laced with venom, broke the peaceful forest silence that he went rigid. “I can smell you! Get out of our territory or face the consequences!” He willed himself to move, he did, but his tiredness mixed with newfound terror did nothing to let him have his will. He only braced himself for impact, any howls or words dying on his tongue. The bushes rattled, and two large beta males entered the small clearing where he sat. Grian’s ears flattened against his head, and he scrunched himself up as much as he could, his fur standing on end. A choked snarl broke from his mouth. He would fight them if he must. He carried the unborn pups of his mate, and he wasn’t about to let them die.

What he didn’t understand was why the snarls on the two males’ faces instantly fell as they saw him.

“Grian..?” The beta on the left, a wolf of many shades of brown, spoke softly. And then Grian looked a little harder. And then he remembered which pack lived on the other side of the border that they’d been patrolling. And then he recognized the two.

His own defensive position fell, though only minorly. The beta on the right, a black and dark gray wolf, only stared at him with shock. Grian spoke barely above a whisper. “Mumbo…”

How could he forget the wolf that had been courting him when the rogues attacked his patrol? Mumbo began to take a step towards him, but Grian’s visible flinch stopped him. He noticed their gazes fall to his stomach. Laying down, Grian realized, made his belly even more blatantly obvious, and he suddenly fell self-conscious, curling his tail in. He still couldn’t find the strength to stand, leaving him helplessly trapped under the gazes of his former packmates; his former best friends. “Oh Grian, I’m so sorry…” Mumbo spoke softly, his eyes never leaving his large belly. “I should’ve kept looking after the rogue attack, I’m so sorry,” Mumbo’s head hung low with his words, and Grian then understood. Mumbo thought… “It… It’s not like that,” Grian whimpered. Mumbo’s eyes trailed back to meet his. “I- we…” But he was abruptly cut off by a vicious snarl. A blur of pale brown and cream fur bolted into the clearing, barreling into Mumbo. A second ball of fur shoved Iskall back. Grian was left frozen in shock, Josh’s jaws dangerously clamped around Mumbo’s neck, hatred burning in his springleaf green eyes. Pete held off Iskall with fury etched onto his face, and False ran over to stand above Grian protectively. He watched the two Hermits’ eyes suddenly burn with alarm and anger. Mumbo began struggling against Josh’s bite, only to have the latter increase the power in his jaws. “Josh please…” Grian pleaded. “Don’t hurt him,” Josh’s furious gaze turned to him, and for the first time since the rogue ambush, Grian felt genuine fear clutch his heart. Josh wrenched Mumbo off the ground, throwing him towards the edge of the clearing, blood staining his bared fangs and maw. “What is the meaning of this?” Mumbo snapped, his soft tone swiftly replaced with venom. “You have no right to keep us from bringing our kidnapped member home!”

“Xisuma never told you what happened?” False piped up from her rigid stance over Grian. The two Hermits looked at her with widened eyes. 

“What do you mean ‘what happened’? You guys were attacked and taken by rogues!”

“We were rescued from the ambush,” Grian said quietly.  
“Then why didn’t you guys come back?” Iskall asked, desperation lining his voice.

“The attack wasn’t spontaneous, Iskall,” False growled. “It was planned,”

The two betas fell silent.

“When Cub came to find us, he brought news that Xisuma had willingly given us to the rogues in exchange for the safety of the rest of the pack,” Grian paused. “So, we collectively decided to not go back…”

There was a beat of silence.

“So, that’s where you two come in, then? Do you guys just roam the forest as a small group, or do you have a territory?” Iskall questioned.

“Uh…”

A wide smirk grew on Josh’s face. “Oh we have territory, alright,”

“We were rescued by an already existent pack. We’re… part of the Championship now,”

“Oh…” The brown beta’s face fell blank. “How have we never seen you patrolling, then?”

“Well, I didn’t normally join patrols to begin with. These past months, I’ve been staying inside the den at all times for… well, obvious reasons,” Grian looked down at his belly. “I was just getting tired of staying inside all day, so I wanted to come out onto a patrol to stretch my legs fully,”

“Look, as much as I’d love to stand here and talk,” Josh sneered, backtracking to stand beside Grian, helping him stand. “As you can see, my mate is heavily pregnant and should probably get back home,” 

Grian winced as he noticed Mumbo visibly stiffen, the black wolf’s gaze darkening. Slightly wobbly on his legs, Grian leaned down to retrieve the forgotten rabbit, but False took it before him, sending him a gentle look before nodding in the direction of the den. Grian cast one more look at the two betas, Mumbo’s emotionless expression etched into his mind painfully, before the rub of warmth on his side turned his attention to staring directly into Josh’s soft gaze. The omega nuzzled his mate, falling in step towards Delta Point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The actual au story should be out soon. But have this.


	7. Champion of Her Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh believes in his Penguins.
> 
> False believes in using diplomacy to solve issues... most of the times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long >~< I usually have my emotional vent oneshot out a couple hours after the event.
> 
> And per usual,  
> ✨not beta’d✨

To have expectations weighing your shoulders down like towering sacks of potatoes was difficult. But Josh should’ve seen it coming. He was considered one of the best competitors in the tournament. Still, he felt the expectations dragging on him more than usual. Perhaps it was because he was teamed up with a member of the Dream Team, but he might never know. He assumed the audience of the event had overlooked the fact that half of his team was essentially formulated of brand new competitors. He severely hoped the audience would realize that before essentially attacking him with comments about how he won with Liam and yet not with George. Josh sucked in a breath. Knowing the fan base that followed the tournament, people would compare the Mint Mistletoes to the Blue Bats of MCC9, which is a completely unjust comparison, seeing as people would be comparing brand new players to two competitors that placed in the top 20 that day. And he wasn’t feeling ready to defend his family from toxicity in the most tame way possible. Or, more accurately, he knew he wouldn’t be able to.

But Josh tried to cast that thought away as the countdown reached 10 seconds. It was the beginning of the first round of Dodgebolt, and whilst George and Karl both gripped teal banners, hollering at the top of their lungs, Josh stood at the opposite end of the arena, holding a teal banner as well, yet his faith lay in Purple’s ability. The purple clad competitors stood in the arena with their game faces on, Grian shuffling on his feet. Josh smiled at the sight of two of his family members in that arena. It was Grian’s first time in Dodgebolt, and the golden blond had performed decently well in practice; going far enough to ace the opposing team of testers. Except this wasn’t practice, this was the real thing. And whilst Josh’s nerves were calmed down enough to ignore the amount of triggered fans he’d have to deal with from his team coming eighth, he could feel the nerves radiating from both teams in the arena. It wasn’t unusual, though. Dodgebolt was notorious for elevating heart rates to breakneck speeds, sending nerves bursting through the rooftops. If anything, it was unusual to be calm in that rectangular arena that always managed to magically turn to the colors of the competing teams. The idea of managing to stack up enough coins to make it to the top two and then losing in the final was enough to rouse every participant of the game’s fight-or-flight instincts into overdrive. But alas, there could only be one winning team. Sometimes, one’s fight just isn’t strong enough. Sometimes, one’s fight begins weak, but comes back with a fierce determination. And sometimes, one’s fight begins with a powerful punch, but loses its strength because of cockiness.

One could argue that the Purple Penguins lost that day because of cockiness at the pure determination that pulled through with their 2-0 lead, but Josh knew them better than that, at least False and Grian, anyway. Accompanying the runners-up at the end-of-the-year party, shining golden crowns atop the Teal Turkeys’ heads catching the attention of all eyes, the mood of those gathered around the stage and dispersing across the beach varied greatly. Egotistical players from the Green Guardians of old approached the first back-to-back winning Hermit.

“A taste of your own medicine was prescribed a long while ago. Glad you finally took it, False,” George and Sapnap broke through the gentle conversation taking place between Pete, Grian, False, Josh, and Liam. The blonde stiffened at the sounds of their voices, and Josh’s venomous tone posed a stark contrast to his previously soft words, beating False to retaliation. 

“Dream is that way, boys,”

“Oh, we know,” Sapnap, with the audacity of a lion, sat in the empty seat at the table. “We just came to ask how it feels to be reverse swept,”

“I suddenly see what brought the Dream Team together,” Josh sneered, locking fingers with Grian as the golden blond trembled with memories of their encounter with Dream in the eleventh event.

Their pathetic act of demeaning others in return for self pride.

“I suggest you two kindly leave before I go H-Mom on you both,” Liam said, gleeful smile equipped, but deadly venom poised behind his azure blue orbs.

“Hey George, do you see what I see?” Sapnap accused in a singsong tone, chuckling at his own joke. It was Christmastime, and he was singing a Christmas song, but was acting in the opposite way that one should during this time of year. Sadly fitting for all members of the Dream Team.

“A coward, a coward, spoken over by her team. Always carried to her dreams, always carried to her dreams~!” 

Pete made to stand up, hand wrapped around the handle of his sword, but False spoke up before any of the others could jump on the two. “If anything, I’m happy we were reverse-swept. There were three first-time winners in that group, and it was interesting to experience what you felt those months ago. But I will say this. Getting reverse-swept achieved more than all three of your teams today. So with that said, I would like to politely ask for you to leave our pleasant bubble of conversation that you so rudely interrupted,” False said, a polite grin gracing her face as George ditched Sapnap to be left awkwardly sitting at the table, three furious, protective men staring him down. With a scoff, the ravenette stood and left, and Liam stood, walked around the table, and hugged False. “You handled that way more civilly than, I think, any of us could have. I’m so proud!” Liam giggled, eliciting a small chuckle from False. “Thanks, Liam. I realized that dissing people, as satisfying as it is, only ever leads to your defeat or more fighting,” She paused. “I also didn’t have my sword on me,”

Hearty laughs were drawn from Josh and Pete, and Liam only grinned brighter and squeezed her tightly before returning to his seat. Grian calmed down, with Josh’s help, and the five returned to their pleasant atmosphere. There was a beat of comfortable silence, before Liam spoke up.

“Hey… Josh?”

Said man hummed.

“Do you see what I see?”

The heads at the table turned to Liam, his smile blinding and his eyes glowing as his gaze locked onto False.

Liam started singing, to the chorus tune of ‘Do You Hear What I Hear’. “A Bat, a Cat, a Purple Penguin, a Champion of her own,”

Warmth bloomed in her heart.

“A Champion of her own,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, in case someone needs clarification, “a cat” is in reference to the Orange Ocelots of MCC10, because I couldn’t make the word ocelot work and I wanted to have all of the Dodgebolt appearances in order in the song, so, ye


	8. Blue Bats Gathered ‘Round a Hearthbound Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam wasn’t able to have an extravagant holiday party, but he has his family. 
> 
> And at the end of the day, his family is all he needs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Belated Christmas everyone!
> 
> ✨not beta’d✨

Light orange tongues of flame danced along the blackening bark layer of the logs that lay in the hearth, crackling and popping their own little song to the gentle holiday tunes that played softly from the tv. The warmth radiating from the hearth, spreading throughout the home, posed a drastic yet pleasant contrast to the environment beyond the house walls, where flurries fell from the heavens, twinkling like stardust in resemblance to the vast sea of burning lights in the dark sky that was cloaked by the storm. The ground was a pure, untouched white, the rolling waves of gathered snow glistening in the presence of the lights that adorned the outside of the house, rainbow and warm white alike. The thick blanket of white thinned out on the faded red brick path that connected the driveway and the front porch, leading to an elevated platform where the front doors lay. Evidence of life passing along the path was laid in the form of footprints in the thin layer of ice. Through the windows, five figures could be seen gathered around the fireplace, be it on the floor or scattered across the couch and chairs. An instrumental of The First Noel played quietly, pleasantly gracing the five’s ears, lulling them into the warm, secure sense of Christmas. One of the three on the couch, a golden blond male, hummed along to the tune, sipping his hot cocoa. The one who sat beside him, a pale brunette male, gently bobbed his head to the tune, swirling a peppermint stick in his hot cocoa. On the golden blond’s other side sat another light brunette male, whose hands were wrapped firmly around the mug of warm cocoa. On the floor, a bright blonde female and a warm brunette male sat together, exchanging quiet banter that two best friends would whilst warily holding full mugs of hot liquid. Both had their hair pulled into loose ponytails, making the tall, wolflike ears atop the brunette male’s head extremely apparent.

The towering faux Christmas tree stood proudly to the right of the fireplace, tucked into a corner with two windows. It’s warm white lights flickered ever so slightly, casting a warm glow across the room in partnership with the fire, the ornaments clutching its branches reflecting the rays of light in colorful bouts of red, purple, and blue. A golden star topped the display off, catching the light and seemingly glowing because of it. A sixth figure emerged from the kitchen, steaming cup of cocoa in hand, as The First Noel faded into The Christmas Song, his bright azure eyes gleaming with joy as he joined the five around the fire.

Sitting in one of the chairs, scratching at his beard, Liam sighed, content.

_“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,”_

He was surrounded by his friends; his family. Maybe he wasn’t able to throw a widespread holiday party like he usually did, but that didn’t dampen his mood. If anything, it helped boost his mood, making those who were able to gather together that much closer; making the night that much more meaningful, that much more intimate. Grian was sandwiched between Josh and Pete, all three of them tucked underneath a thick fleece blanket, sharing the warmth of the fire and their bodies between them. On the floor, at the three’s feet, Ren and False sat together, discussing plans for future builds and pranks to take place within the boundaries of the Hermitlands.

_“Jack Frost nipping at your nose,”_

Liam’s thoughts drifted to memories of the Championship; the event that brought them together. A group that nobody could have predicted blending so well. But Liam had known, that very day that Scott had told them the team arrangements, that his Blue Bats would rise beyond expectations; would leave their footprints in the ground of memories. Liam hadn’t anticipated just how much they would impact those around them, though.

_“Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,”_

First, there was Liam himself. A decently good fighter, master of Dodgebolt, and champion of encouragement. He took the reins in any team he was a part of, not to have complete control over them, but rather to bring them to their fullest potential; bring out the champion that he knew rested beneath the layers of doubt that tended to clutch the hearts of most of the competitors in the event.

_“And folks dressed up like eskimos,”_

Secondly, there was Josh. So much could be said about the young master of PvP. His skills were only matched by those of the levels of Dream and Technoblade, some could even say his skills beat out those two, as Josh had trained both of them for their big duel. Josh’s kindness and compassion rivaled that of Liam himself. Despite not showing it as prominently as the former lumberjack, Josh had a big heart, and it only grew and expanded with their meeting of the Hermits.

_“Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,”_

Liam knew he could confidently speak for both himself and Josh—and possibly even Pete as well—when saying that the hermits had nestled their ways deep within the hearths of their hearts, finding a nook to call their own, claiming the soft love and appreciation of the three. The ultimate group of misunderstood, the dark horses of the event, the victims of fodder and violence, the Hermits earned not only the respect, but the love and friendship as well, of three of the most respected individuals in the Championship.

_“Help to make the season bright,”_

Next, there’s False herself. A more conserved personality, almost ironically filling the definition of Hermit. But as time went on with their team practice and bonding, she began to emerge from her shell. Her true kind, protective personality came through, warming Liam’s heart and softening Josh’s. Her fierce connection and almost motherly love for Ren was just a glimpse of the relationship the Hermits had built between one another, and it was awe inspiring. Liam had close friendships before meeting the Hermits, but never had he had a relationship quite as closely knit as the Hermits, and Ren and False were a perfect example of what building lives with a mismatched but relatable family was like.

_“Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow,”_

Her strong protective nature came through with shining colors in battle, her drive to protect her loved ones fiercely overpowering any priority to kill; she only wanted to defend, and that introduced a new style of battle that Liam and Josh both had never dealt with before. Sure, there is your defensive posture and offensive posture, but emotionally driven defense introduced a hybrid of both defensive and offensive technique that led to her victory in duels against enemy teams, as well as one-on-one’s with Liam and Josh themselves. False was known as one of the best fighters amongst the Hermits, but her skill had been a surprise to the two.

_“Will find it hard to sleep tonight,”_

And last but certainly not least, there was Ren. He may not have the best skill on the battlefield when wielding a sword, but his supportive, humble, and bright personality rivals that of Liam’s. Ren’s smile can illuminate the room, filling it with warmth and joy, and making even the darkest places feel like home. Because Ren is the embodiment of “home is the people, not the location.” Since their first meeting, Ren’s outgoing personality was heavily contagious, often bringing the best out of Liam and Josh’s moods.

_“They know that Santa’s on his way,”_

His humbleness came to a souring of Liam’s mood at times, when he claimed to be carried after their victory of the ninth championship, but Liam admitted to preferring the humbleness and goosebumps from the werewolf’s speeches over the prideful boasting of some very particular competitors in the tournament, which leads into the “extended family”, if you will, of the Blue Bats.

_“He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh,”_

Grian was the first to be fully absorbed into the tightly knit group that had become of the Bats, “replacing” Liam, he had joked, when the eleventh tournament’s teams had been announced. The Lime Liches had shown promise to follow in the footsteps of the Blue Bats, threatening False’s champion titles to evolve into a three-in-a-row streak. Of course, that topic isn’t discussed much anymore; hits quite sensitive nerves. But their placement didn’t matter anymore, it was what that event had led to that mattered.

_“And every mother’s child is gonna spy,”_

Grian had shown his deep connection with his fellow Hermits directly from the start, and instantly hit it off with Josh. Maybe Liam’s opinion of the golden blond was hindered from his emotions after being “replaced”, but as he came to know the Hermit with passing time, the honey-eyed golden blond weaseled his way into Liam’s heart beside Ren and False, just as he had with Josh. And with the tenth and thirteenth tournaments, the Hermits quickly adopted Pete into their group, leading to the pale brunette being with them now. And with leading suspicion of Pete having to move out of his shared apartment with Vikk, the Hermits has already asked Josh and Liam if it’d be alright to open their arms and doors to Pete. And if Liam had any say in the matter, Pete’s belongings would be at their doorstep in mere days.

_“To see if reindeer really know how to fly,”_

“Liam?”

Josh’s soft voice broke Liam’s train of nostalgic thoughts, and as Liam descended back to the earth, he saw the five’s eyes on him with varying degrees of concern.

“Oh uh… yeah?”

“You alright? You were zoning out there, and your cocoa threatened to spill,”

Liam’s eyes descended to the mug in his hands, and with a suppressed jolt, he resituated the mug’s position from its previous precarious tilt, its liquid contents treading the edge of the mug. Lifting the mug to be level with his face, bringing the rim to his lips, Liam took a sip of the peppermint ghosted cocoa, before nodding vaguely. “I’m more than alright. I was just lost in my thoughts. Happy that we’re here, all together, despite being such a mismatched group of individuals,” a smile graced his face with his words, betraying the honesty that laced them. Liam held a love for the five before him that burned in the hearth beneath his heart; something that could never be extinguished.

_“And so, I’m offering this simple phrase,”_

Similar smiles were mirrored, Grian returning to nuzzling into Josh’s side, his subtle shivering not going unnoticed by the brunette himself as his free arm was swiftly wrapped around the smaller male. Pete offered them a playful roll of his dark chocolate eyes, though it went unnoticed by the two. Ren and False returned to their own open conversation, Pete tossing in his offerings of words occasionally.

_“To kids from one to ninety-two,”_

Liam only watched the five with admiration glowing in his eyes. What had he ever done to deserve them? He didn’t know. But he knew he wouldn’t give their bond for the world. And he certainly wouldn’t pass up watching the Hermits find people they could genuinely trust, rather than being used for show or fame. The memory of Grian’s past experiences with Dream and Techno—before Techno was brought in line under Josh’s teaching—threatened to sour Liam’s mood, so he cast it away quickly, replacing it with memories of watching Grian and Josh bonding with each other with genuineness rather than lethality.

_“Although it’s been said,”_

He sat, sending every prayer, every thread of thanksgiving he could muster, up to the heavens as he basked in the warmth of his family.

_“Many times, many ways,”_

Yes, maybe Liam wished he could’ve invited everyone from the Championship to a holiday party, maybe he wished he could’ve started a huge Secret Santa to bring chaos into the mix, but being surrounded by his family was something he wouldn’t change, even if he had the choice.

_“Merry Christmas to you,”_


	9. Pack of Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A threat. A challenge. A battle for honor and dominance. A bite of claim. A formed pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I just wrote this instead of studying for my final exams. But I wanted an excuse to write more ABO stuff (this can all be seen as platonic, since I know ABO is often oversexualized) and I also wanted an excuse to write Josh beating Dream up, so I combined them!
> 
> And for once, this is
> 
> ✨beta read✨

Grian’s heart seized up with fear, the black, emotionless eyes painted onto ebony staring at him; through him, condescendingly judging every mistake he’s made in his life, every wrong he’s done to others. The ebony circle, framed by wilding blond hair, kept him frozen in place. Grian was standing stalk still alongside two others, who were also imitating statues, and unfortunately for the same reason. Malicious dark gray and light hazel eyes were pinned to Ren and False respectively, the power emanating from the three Alphas across from them completely overbearing their senses. There seemed to be nothing that could stand in the Dream Team’s way, their muscular builds and unquestioned skill in battle surely not to be taken lightly.

But yet, ironically enough, there was something standing in between them. Three someones, to be exact. Pete blocked False, Liam guarding Ren, and Josh stood at the head, keeping himself between Grian and Dream. A snarl broke from Josh’s lips, his own furious Alpha pheromones making the three Hermit Omegas shrink in fear, despite knowing the fury was pointed far from them. 

“Give it up, Josh. You’re not even an official pack. There is nothing you can do to stop me from claiming my prize,” Dream cooed, flexing his fingerless-gloved hands. Despite his face being covered, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know his gaze was pinned on Grian.

“You won a bet with Techno, not me,” Josh hissed. “And the Hermits are people, not objects. There is no way in hell I’m letting you or your lackeys lay your disgusting, untrustworthy hands on them,”

“I didn’t ask for your permission, Alpha,” Dream sneered accusingly. “They’re not yours, you can’t do anything about it. Now step aside, you’re wasting my time, and I would like to head home with my Omega,”

Josh stiffened, hazel eyes glowering, and hissed. “Over my dead body,” A challenge. Dream’s body language mimicked this. An acceptance. A rare, and often fatal, challenge between Alphas, a battle for honor, territory, and often Omegas. 

Grian quickly gathered Ren and False in a grip of his wings as Pete and Liam both assumed challenging stances with Sapnap and George. Blood could very well be shed, and only one side would come out victorious.

There was a moment of chilling silence as the Alphas locked gazes with their opponents, waiting to see who would make the first move.

And it was Josh. He launched himself at Dream, knocking the two to the ground, punches being thrown between the two. Pete met Sapnap in the middle, and George leapt at Liam with startling speed. Time seemed to drag on for the onlooking Omegas, fear seeping into their bones at the sight of the battling Alphas.

Josh was pushed down to the ground on his back after a long five minutes of wrestling on the ground, Dream’s now unmasked face right above his with a wide smirk. 

“It was a nice try, Josh, but at the end of the day, you’ll never beat me. Not again,” But it was Josh’s turn to smirk.

“Think again, Alpha,” 

And it was quick, almost too quick to catch, as Josh brought a leg up right between Dream’s with speed and all the strength he could muster from the position. A loud, scream-like wail of pain was pulled from Dream, his face betraying his pain as he fell off of Josh, curling into the fetal position. Josh reversed their previous position, pinning Dream down. And Dream let him, a pained and submissive whine forcefully pulled from his throat. A direct blow to the genitals is one every Alpha fears, as enough damage could often cause an Alpha to be unable to breed their mate, and therefore hinder the continuance of their bloodline. Dream tilted his head to the side at the quiet, threatening growl that rumbled from Josh’s throat, allowing the victor of dominance to inspect his neck, Josh swiftly locating one of Dream’s scent glands. The glands are the most sensitive part of the human body, having the most delicate tissue no matter the second gender, which means they scar easily, often scarring for life. An Alpha is usually never bitten anywhere other than their mating gland at the junction of their neck and shoulder, but Alphas defeated in a battle of dominance are always bitten on their scent gland, which was located in the center of the side of their necks. This was how the victor shows dominance, and that, in turn, puts a permanent piece of evidence of defeat on the beaten Alpha. Josh swiftly sunk his teeth into Dream’s left scent gland, the metallic taste of blood gracing his taste buds as his sharpened canines pierced the skin. Pulling away after a moment, Josh observed his work. A large bite mark sat proudly, blood beading at every puncture, covering the entire gland. That gland would now always be tainted with Josh’s scent, and the scar will always hold Dream accountable for his pride.

George rushed over to Dream as Josh stood and backed away from the broken Alpha, though Sapnap was still silently standing off with Pete. Without a word, Josh turned away from them, spitting at the ground, one last ditch growl eliciting from his chest as he walked towards the three Omegas. They met him in the middle, naturally wanting to calm the Alpha down so he could rest and let any wounds heal, though Josh went straight for the door to their home. Yes, the battle had taken place in his own yard. Dream had gotten the audacity to come to _his_ own territory and try to take some of _his_ pack members; _his_ Omegas. The adrenaline from the fight and the marking was making him unnaturally possessive, his thoughts projecting similarly to those of a head Alpha of a pack. Turning to see the Omegas walking inside their house behind him, he had the inescapable urge to scent them, mark them with his pack claim, and make them his. Not in the way that an Alpha would mark his mate, but in the way that an Alpha would take someone into his pack, and make them undeniably under his protection. 

His stiffened gaze landed on Grian first, and he all but pounced on the Omega. A startled yelp elicited from the golden blond, but he nearly immediately melted into Josh’s gentle hold as the Alpha nosed the scent gland on the right side of Grian’s neck, inhaling his crisp cinnamon apple scent. Josh’s chest rumbled with a purr, and he nosed at the area right above Grian’s scent gland; the most common area marked by Alphas with their pack claim. The Omega whined breathily, tilting his head to allow the Alpha easier access. Letting instincts corrupt his control over his body, Josh sunk his teeth into that area, though not as forcefully as his victory bite on Dream. A whimper escaped the Omega at the initial pain of the bite, but Josh didn’t push, licking over the wound comfortingly, cleaning up any blood that beaded at the punctures of his canines. 

Josh repeated this process with False and Ren, his instincts pleased. He was in the process of cleaning up the bite on Ren when the sound of the front door closing reached their ears, and faint agitated Alpha filled their noses. 

“Josh?” Liam’s soft, questioning voice drew the Alpha’s attention from the Omega in his grasp, looking up mid-lick at the two other Alphas.

Eyes dilated, adrenaline still coursing through his veins, a threatening growl was drawn from Josh. His logical conscience was cast aside, his inner Alpha only knowing _Alphas. Other Alphas. Protect Omegas. Defend pack_. Liam was taken aback at the sudden sign of aggression, and took a step back. “Josh..?” He tried again. “Josh, it’s okay. It’s me, Liam. And Pete is here, too. We’re not going to attack you, we’re not here to challenge you,” He said carefully. The growling softened, but his tight grip on Ren remained. Pete stepped up beside Liam, patting the shorter male’s shoulder softly. The two locked gazes. 

Obviously the six of them had discussed forming a pack before, especially since the three Hermits were living with them and weren’t under the constant watch of the rest of the large extended family of the Hermitlands. The three Alphas had long left their family packs as well, and they agreed that it would be beneficial to all of them if a pack was formed, but they couldn’t decide who would be head Alpha, and didn’t want to fight each other for that placement. But now, with Josh’s instincts already pulling him to claiming the Omegas, Liam and Pete came to a silent agreement. Josh had more than proven his strength to them, and had proven his ability to protect them. So, with a deep, wavering breath, Pete was the first to whimper submissively, lowering his gaze to the floor and exposing his neck openly to the Alpha across from him. Liam did the same, not daring to make eye contact with the instinctually unstable Alpha who would not hesitate to jump on them in a similar fashion to how he had with Dream. Approaching footsteps found their ears, and soft hands gripped Liam’s shoulders.

“Are you sure..?” Josh’s voice cracked his whisper as a sliver of his humanity broke through his instinct-drunk haze. Liam smiled softly, nodding. “Of course. I trust you, Josh,” Josh cast his gaze at Pete, who locked eyes with him for a moment. “Hell yeah, dude. You proved, with flying colors, that you are worthy,” The taller Alpha gave him a reassuring smile, leaning downwards ever so slightly to allow easier access to the head Alpha male. And so, Josh took it. He scented and marked Pete, who seized and shivered at the feeling of the bite, but just like with the Omegas, he didn’t bite nearly as hard as his victory mark, and cleaned it up with gentle licks afterward. And, when he came to Liam, the other Alpha brought him into a warm embrace, something they both purred throatily at, before Josh proceeded to mark Liam. It was certainly a different experience for the two Alphas, as usually they are the ones scenting others rather than the ones being scented, much less marked, but they paid it no mind. With the final lick on Liam’s mark, the bond between the six solidified more than it had before. Josh turned to look at all of them, locking gazes with them one by one. Not only were they his family and closest friends, they were his pack. _His_ pack. He fought Dream and won dominance over him, and in turn finalized their bond with a solidified pack mark. He swooned at the thought. They were his pack now, and he would stop at nothing to protect them to the ends of the Earth. Maybe he would’ve done that even before he was pack leader, but now, bound by the mark made by himself, there was no trace of doubt in his mind. He loved all of them, and would give his entire being to make sure they were all safe.


	10. Forbidden Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian, False, and Ren sneak into the Training Arena to watch the PvP’ers practicing. They get caught, chaos ensues, but forbidden friends are never far behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Bats have the same energy as “Forbidden Friendship” from the HTTYD soundtrack and nobody can tell me otherwise.
> 
> This oneshot is really going back to the base of the Bats and I loved writing it. Also, this is heavily inspired by riacte’s “Battle Scars” fic! So go read that if you haven’t! I’m not advanced enough to learn how to embed links so bear with me here.
> 
> This is
> 
> ✨not beta’d✨

“We really shouldn’t be here!”

“Oh come on, False. Live a little. Rules were made to be broken!”

“I don’t really think you have the correct definition there, pal,”

Grian only rolled his eyes playfully with a shrug as he led False and Ren towards the entrance of the training arena, an area specifically reserved for only the best fighters in the school. And them? They weren’t necessarily the best fighters. False humored herself with the thought of being a third as good as the best around them, but her skill wouldn’t cut it for the terribly strict and unfair guidelines that ran the wretched place.

She and her friends were known as the Hermits; definition representations of brains over brawn, but completely disregarded for their intelligence in strategy and structural design. A large portion of the Hermits were into architecture, others engineering, and a few scattered in there took part in multiple divisions, though none of them majored in fighting. But the blind eye that was turned to giving justice for them wasn’t stopping Grian, arguably one of the most reckless and mischievous Hermits, from directly breaking any unjust rules that hindered them from even leaving their segregated section of the school, an area of many names. The Nerd Corner, The Hermit Hole, The Rejection Center, to name a few, and not mentioning those who don’t even acknowledge its existence.

And whilst False was an eager rule-follower, even she couldn’t stop from being dragged alongside Ren to the PvP Arena to watch the trainees practicing for the upcoming competition that would be happening at the school soon. The arena was similar to a stadium, with large bleachers bordering the walls, and a wide open space for activities to take place. Grian’s plan was to simply sneak through the open doors and hide underneath the bleachers, which was easier said than done considering two people were dueling not far from the doors. But that didn’t deter the avian golden blond, who merely tucked False and Ren under his charcoal gray wings, set his eyes on their desired position, and bolted for it, tugging the two with him. They slipped in undetected, Grian’s look of victory masked by the shadows casted over them from the bleachers. It was relatively late, the sun barely a ghost in the sky as the moon took its vigil with the stars, but that didn’t hinder the flurry of activity in the arena. Well known faces such as PeteZahHutt, the DreamTeam, and the student Event Organiser himself, Scott, were in the group, just to name a few.

“There he is,” Grian whispered, peeking through the separations in the seats, his pointed finger directing at the Green God that constantly held the golden blond’s attention.

Fruitberries. 

False recognized the Not-Dream PvP’er and his training buddy, HBomb, immediately once her attention was turned to them, and she noticed Ren’s pointed wolf ears perk up at their mention as well. Every Hermit knew of their patron saints, though most were too intimidated to approach them when given the opportunity. Grian was the opposite, he always wanted to approach Fruit, but the elusive Green God always slipped through the avian’s grasp, much to his annoyance. That very reason was why they were there. Well, Grian said it was to ‘gain knowledge about fighting techniques’ but both Ren and False knew that he secretly just wanted to talk to the boy who so fearlessly stood up for the Hermits countless times. But False couldn’t blame him, she too wanted to thank the Green God, but never found the right chance.

They stayed there, mesmerized by the dances of the PvP’ers, for about an hour before an extremely inconvenient glance ratted them out, by none other than Dream, the favorite of the school. His mysteriously masked face turned to their hiding spot and caught them with no issue, which led to his lackeys immediately pulling them from their hiding spots like sacks of potatoes, no regard for their safety as they were thrown to the hard floor.

A tiring lecture they’d all heard many times was repeated, about how the Hermits weren’t supposed to be there and how they didn’t deserve the grace they were getting, but it quickly fed up the three.

Maybe a little too much.

“Oh shut up,” Grian growled at the masked, standing up and dusting himself off, wings slightly spread in defiance. 

“What did you say to me?” Dream was taken aback, as most were in the gathered group.

“I said ‘shut up’, brickhead. Need I repeat myself again?” He said, crossing his arms. Grian was answered with silence, Dream’s fists clenched. “Gosh, y’all really are brawn and no brains, aren’t ya?” Grian turned and offered his hands to Ren and False for them to get up, but his shoulder was grabbed and he was quickly yanked backwards with a yelp drawn from his lips.

“I was being patient with you, but you completely disregarded that. Let’s see how much you’re willing to talk after I give you the treatment you deserve,” A flash of fear graced Grian’s face for a second before he pulled himself from Dream’s grasp and turned to face the taller male, honey eyes glowing with fierceness.

“Bring it, green boy,”

The crowd moved like one body as Grian and Dream moved to the center of the arena, Ren and False left frozen on the floor. They were about to witness Grian fighting the arguably best fighter in the school, and couldn’t do anything about it.

“Are you guys okay?” A soft voice broke their attention away from the pulverizing fear, and the two looked up. None other than Hermit Patron Saint Fruitberries and Hbomb stood in front of them, hands offered with remorseful looks on their faces. False took Fruit’s and Ren took H’s, and they dusted themselves off once standing, casting worried glances at the gathered crowd.

“I’d be lying if I said I was. I knew we shouldn’t have come here but Grian is persistent. And his persistence usually gets him into trouble, though nothing of this magnitude before,” False worried her lip between her teeth. “I can’t protect him this time, unless I wanna get beat up again, which I don’t. In a way, this shows Grian that he needs to learn to be more careful, but in no way do I think he deserves this,”

“He seems like a tough guy, I think he’ll be fine,” H jumped in. Ren snorted. “He May have a tough demeanor but he always bites off more than he can chew. Ego issues, unfortunately,”

False sighed and looked back at the two. “Well, uh… I guess while I have the opportunity, I wanted to thank you, Fruit, for all the times you’ve stood up for us Hermits in the past. You have no idea how special that is to us,”

Pain flashed in his eyes. “You shouldn’t have to thank me, False. It’s just common courtesy, something that these wretches don’t understand or grasp properly. The social classism is strong here, no matter how much the principal denies it,” He paused for a moment. “Maybe I threaten the respect I have from these people by standing up for you guys, but I’ll keep doing so. What the system is instilling here is wrong, and nobody should be treated like you guys are. You are all so talented, honestly, the rest of these people are missing out on the crazy intelligence you guys have and the wisdom you have to offer,” 

Ren chuckled at this, tail swaying slightly. “I think all of us would appreciate that, but you’ve done nothing to deserve being dragged down by us,”

H stepped in. “Okay stop it. Stop with the self depreciation. The Hermits are amazing, talented, and honestly a so perfect representation of a friend group family that it makes me see how pitiful and empty most of my friendships here are. You guys deserve so much more than you’re getting and that’s it. No side stuff. I think both me and Fruit would agree that we would give our social positions to make sure you were all treated fairly, if not more fairly than the top PvP’ers,”

A blush crept up on False’s face, an embarrassed flutter in her heart. Nobody outside of their close friends had ever complimented the Hermits like that and it was overwhelming in a sense. But before either herself or Ren could respond, a startling commotion erupted from the gathered crowd.

Oh right, Grian and Dream’s fight.

The people split apart to make a pathway, and out came a certain avian boy, tugging at his jumper collar, and taming his golden blond curls. Behind him, Dream lay on the floor of the arena. When achieved enough space, Grian fluttered his wings open, and strutted towards them.

“Well there goes his ego, a promised course for the moon at this point,” False deadpanned, but only for a moment before relief overtook he’d and she rushed over the envelope Grian in a hug, Ren hot on her heels.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” She whispered softly in his ear, clutching him closely. Grian chuckled.

“I know,”

And with that, Ren took Grian’s arms and rushed them out of the arena. False was quick to follow, but paused.

“Thank you, Fruitberries. It means more than you know, the things you say and do for us,”

He gave her a shy smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it. And, call me Josh,”

She returned the smile, and followed after her friends, the unbelieving eyes of the PvP’ers trailing after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you guys still out there? I haven’t gotten a single comment on my oneshots for the past four chapters and I’m lonely :( please feed me serotonin and let me know you guys still exist-
> 
> but on a completely happier note, BLUE BATS REUNION POG? I’m so excited for it, holy crap-


	11. Mess With A Bat, Get the Fangs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Survival Games was played instead of Parkour Warrior in the fateful MCC11?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just quickly whipped together as I got the idea, so don’t expect greatness.
> 
> Okay I found another song that has the same energy of the Bats (Moments by Ikson) and I’m living for it.
> 
> ✨Not Beta’d✨

_**Smajor1995** was slain by **Dream**._

_**ShubbleYT** was shot by **Sapnap**._

_**FWhip** was slain by **GeorgeNotFound**._

Liam scooted himself back as far as he could, forced to stay on the ground with a wounded leg, and arrow sticking out of his thigh. Sapnap approached him maliciously, gripping his iron sword, flames licking at the edges of the blade as the Fire Aspect enchantment runes glowed. Dream was beside him, though much more relaxed as he stood between Liam and his two injured teammates that were also grounded, clutching each other as they shuffled through inventory for food and healing potions.

“Again, thank you kindly for the points, HBomb,”

His team was the first to be attacked, his teammates being the first kills of the game. Their loot had been subpar, leaving many critically vulnerable areas of their bodies exposed to enemies. Of course, their first encounter had to be with the Fuchsia Frankensteins, each with two pieces of iron armor and a decent iron or stone weapon. Liam tried to regain any health he could. If he could at least score one kill for his team, they wouldn’t be completely embarrassed, only mostly. But the last Blue Black Cat would have to have a miracle happen to get the pity points, as the weakest Frankensteins were being protected by fully-healed juggernauts of opponents. Achieving a 1v2 in Survival Games was hard enough without the added health disadvantage.

“Any last words?”

His time was running out, the flaming sword approaching quickly, but a flash of lime green in his peripheral gave him hope. Shines of iron armor, a flame-tipped arrow loaded into a glowing purple bow, enchantment runes shining happily. Hope flooded Liam’s heart, and he nodded as he mustered the courage to speak, loud and clear.

“You mess with a Bat, you get the fangs,”

A flaming arrow shoved itself into Sapnap’s exposed chest, causing him to double over. Wide-eyed, he rushed to snatch the easy kill before the enemies approached, but a bright flash of green stopped him.

“Not so fast there, bud,” Josh flashed his team’s notoriously terrifying smile before shoving Sapnap away. Dream audibly growled, but a blur of golden blond hair collided into him, blade of an iron axe poised at his throat. A splash potion of damage was thrown.

_**KarlJacobs** was killed by **Grian** using magic._

_**GeorgeNotFound** was killed by **Grian** using magic._

Fully armored Lime Liches now stood before the two remaining Frankensteins, each with their ominous grins as they leered. Grian never broke eye contact with the porcelain masked, a flurry of golden particles fluttering around him as he gained the credit of the kills, gravestones lying in his wake as he stared the “champion” down.

“We meet again, Dream,”

But the Dreamslayer gave the Frankenstein no chance to respond before bringing his axe down on the man.

_**Dream** was slain by **Grian**._

Josh giggled at Sapnap as False and Ren turned their attention to Liam, grabbing healing potions and food.

“Mess with a Bat, and get the fangs,” Josh echoed.

_**Sapnap** was slain by **fruitberries**._

_**Fuchsia Frankensteins** have all been eliminated!_

Golden flurries circled Josh for a moment, similarly to Grian, before the forest clearing they stood in fell quiet again, only broken by the calls of nightly creatures. The Liches all looked to Liam, who was still sat on the grass, limbs still seized at the adrenaline of the fight. His team had been obliterated, and then their attackers got obliterated, and by none other than the team of his family, and the one who’d replaced him.

Grian, the bloodlusting glow in his eyes still remaining, raised his axe to rest on his shoulder as he approached Liam alongside Josh. The axe swung down from his shoulder, a yelp of surprise eliciting from all four of the others grouped on the forest floor, the glint never leaving Grian’s gaze.

But the iron blade only forged a gash in the plush dirt below them, Grian’s warm honey eyes mellowing with gentleness as he offered his hand to Liam.

“Nice to formally see you, HBomb,” Liam breathed a sigh of relief, and took Grian’s hand, feeling his wounds patching themselves up with the help of the instant healing potions.

“Nice to see you as well, Lord Grian Dreamslayer. You can just call me Liam, by the way,” He said with a warm smile. Josh went to looting the gravestones left in their wakes, marked with a stroke of fuchsia paint, a musty crown resting on the stone, and returned to the four with a full set of iron in his hands. Josh offered them to Liam, who took them hesitantly.

“Why are you guys helping me?”

“I said you’re always welcome to be our fifth, did I not?” Josh said, a playful smirk gracing his lips, much tamer than the malicious grins of their fully-fledged Lich forms.

False brought Liam into a hug once the iron was snugly resting around his body. “That offer still stands, Liam,”

Hesitation fled from his heart as he melted into her arms and nodded. Terrifying grins aside, he loved his family and knew he could trust them with his life.

“Great, now let’s move out. There’s some valuable kills out there that we need to get,” Grian grabbed his axe, swinging it back to rest on his shoulders, glint of death back in his eyes. His teammates and their newly gained +1 only shook their heads with gentle laughs as they continued their conquest of the spooky forest.

Liam ended up letting them kill him once it was down to just the five, a smile on his face as his Blue Black Cats rested in a solid fourth place, and the Lime Liches skyrocketed to the top with a whopping 6,800 coins.

The familiarity of the situation only brought wide, warm smiles to their faces as they secured first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, new thing imma try to do every chapter if I have an idea I know I’m gonna write! Teasers :>
> 
> So here, have one!
> 
> _But his trained eyes must’ve deceived him, for a perfectly misplaced ball of flame promised a direct hit on the side of his head. He only noticed it too late, for a yelp burst from his mouth and a globe of fuchsia sparks littered the air._


	12. Unofficial Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the event dormant, the regulars are inhabiting the practice arenas, keeping their skills sharp. The Dodgebolt practice arena brings out some old, unfinished business, as well as bringing out some new unofficial saviors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long to finish oml.
> 
> I’m really tired so, you know the drill.
> 
> ✨not beta’d✨
> 
> ALSO BLUE BATS TAG IS OFFICIAL, POG-

“The Anti-Technoblade accuracy must only work against pigs,”

Dream’s sick amusement was enough to make Liam’s blood boil, but he couldn’t do much with it. If anything, it was making his vision more blurry and his hold on the wand much less stable as he struggled to land a spell’s hit on any of their opponents that wasn’t Karl.

The former Fuchsia Frankensteins, still as egotistical and annoying as ever, versus the determined yet destroyed former Blue Black Cats. With the addition of Dodgebolt—and all of its seasonal adaptations—to the practice arena, the two canonical opposing teams were at it again, the Cats wanting nothing more than to show they had the ability to defeat the wretchedly overpowered team, and the arena even bore the original colors of the two sides. At the moment, they were proving able to win one round only to be swept again. Scott was cursing his past self, surely.

A missed shot from Dream, and a lightning bolt to Shelby’s head, leaving Liam and Scott. Liam grabbed the luminescent arrow, and it dissolved into the wand he held in his right hand. Scott stepped up beside him at the border line, and the wandtips glowed brightly with the power of the spell charges. Wind roared in the arena, making it incredibly uncomfortable for the remaining Cats’ ears and tails, the two males resenting their team characteristics. A lightning bolt struck Sapnap’s chest, but missed chaining to Dream, opting to strike the wall behind him instead. It was just Dream and George left, but they’d seen this situation before; they’ve seen the outcome.

The blue side of the arena flooded with fuchsia as the opposition landed both spells, ending the game.

“You’ve gotten better,” Dream mused as they approached the Cats, ears and tails now evaporated to thin air with their color in the practice match. “But destiny chose its winner between the two of us,”

Liam gritted his teeth, dropping his face into his hands, thinking of every Disney frick he could drop on the prideful team that so desperately needed to be knocked off its high horse. But he didn’t have time to as another voice called to Dream.

“Hey, let's have a go at it, eh?” Josh stepped up beside Liam, an all-familiar group behind him. It must’ve been MCC 11 Reunion Day, as the Fuchsia Frankensteins led the Lime Liches to the arena. Dream and his posse took their color, half of the white arena filling with pink. The other half, that they were used to seeing as dark blue, flooded with lime green, and the teams teleported in. The Frankensteins only took on a pink-tinted, patched-up look, a mild appearance compared to their opponents. They were used to facing off against four cat-people, but were instead faced off by four individuals with intricate skeletal armor cradling their bodies, terrifying smiles sending chills up the spines of any who gazed upon them. The wands glowed in the Liches’ hands before transforming into completely different weapons; Josh held a large, intricately carved bow, False held a massive wooden staff with a lime jewel cradled in its branches, Ren clutched a large spellbook, and Grian held a towering scythe. If their smiles weren’t terrifying enough, their weapons surely helped.

Though Dream doubted the functionality of the clunky weapons, and didn’t bat an eye at his new opponents.

The round started exactly as the ones against the Cats; Dream left the spell charge in the middle of their side of the arena, and focused on dodging. With nods of affirmation from his team, Grian slid over to their side’s center and took the spell charge, it dissolving in his hand. The Cats were all leaning forwards with curiosity to see the lethality of the Lich’s blast, and even the Frankensteins were somewhat curious.

Whatever they might’ve expected was thrown out the window as Grian’s hand glowed violently, forming a ball of lime green flame. It floated off his hand and hovered in front of him for a moment before he hit it with the scythe like a baseball bat. The ball of flame went barreling across the arena, hitting Karl and causing him to light ablaze, disintegrating into fuchsia sparks before the flame died out into the default spell charge. Dream took both spell charges per usual, and hit False only.

She huffed with annoyance, but joined the Cats in spectating.

Josh and Ren took the spell charges, Ren’s charge disappearing into his book. But it was now that the onlookers noticed that Josh’s bow didn't have a string. With the charge’s power coursing through the twisted wood, a string was formed with the magic alongside a glowing arrow, which he pulled back effortlessly. 

Ren appeared to chant a saying off the pages of his book before his eyes started glowing lime green, and he cast a nod at Josh. The magic arrow hit George, and a shout had a ball of magic hurtling towards Sapnap. Except it didn’t hit him, it hit the floor beneath his feet, and, well…

The patch of ice floor at Sapnap’s feet was stripped of its thin carpet padding, and made significantly more slippery, causing Sapnap to lose his footing and slide right off the edge of the arena with an embarrassingly high-pitched scream.

Leaving only Dream, a bewildered look on his face. But bewilderment was replaced by determination as he charged the wand. Josh and Ren were hit with a chain lightning charge, leaving only Grian.  
The one they call the Dreamslayer.

Maybe Dream forgot about that, but the look on his face when he met eyes with the malicious golden blond wielding a scythe that was larger than himself, well, it revealed the true fear that clutched his heart when two balls of flame formulated in front of Grian.

With one powerful swing of the scythe, both charges were sent forth, engulfing Dream in his own brand color as the round came to an end, the point in the Liches’ favor. Over that short time, Grian noticed, a crowd had begun to gather around the arena, consisting of competitors also searching for activities to fill the time gap where the championship would normally be.

Cheers erupted from the Blue corner as the competitors were teleported back to their starting points, pissed looks seeping with fury masking all of the Frankensteins. Except for Karl, he just looked scared.

And rightfully so. The Liches’ iconic stare could easily pierce the soul of any who dared return their gaze. Their smiles glowed inhumanly bright, to perfect for their terrifying appearance. The coat of bones only enhanced the fear they struck into onlookers, as it was a completely new attribute to the four. Every event, the competitors take on certain physical attributes of their Represent—the creature that the team icon is modeled after—for the duration of the day, or when practicing certain games. Dodgebolt is no different, except for the fact that certain new attributes are unlocked in Dodgebolt, one example being the custom weapons. 

The round started with a quickshot from Dream, pinpointed on Fruit, which unfortunately landed. But, the Liches had the upper hand, and it was Grian and False who took the charges. Grian’s charge-up was the same, but curious eyes pinned onto False as she held her staff firmly. The lime green emerald at the peak of the staff glowed brightly, before a stream of bright, lime magnesium flame erupted from it, targeted at Sapnap. The Frankenstein dodged her shot, only to be hit by Grian’s rogue fireball. Three on three, with a considerable amount of the audience resting on the Liches’ side of the arena. The growing number of onlookers only struck a sense of realism in the Liches’ minds. For them, this was real Dogebolt, fighting for honor against a team that even went against Scott’s wishes when being formed. And for the Hermits, it was their time to prove they can defeat adversaries considered high above them.

Dream took both spell charges and landed hits on Ren and Grian, leaving only False.

It felt all too familiar to her, Liam’s voice ringing through her head, except instead of focusing Sapnap cloaked in green, she was faced with locking onto Dream cloaked in pink.

After sliding to a halt in the center of the arena, she focused, the emerald spitting and hissing with sparks of flame. She pretended to lock on to George, pointing the staff directly at his head. Yet her eyes flickered to Dream, where she saw him and his odd movements patterns. He was barely moving, lazily watching George as he watched him be aimed at. With the emerald emitting a blinding light as the flame was released, she swiftly changed her target from George to Dream as the opportunity opened itself wide. A desperate scramble to escape proved vain, as Dream was met with the magnesium flame, and exploded into sparks. The second shot barely missed George, a much too familiar feeling overcoming False. But she didn’t stutter, didn’t hesitate, as she began dodging. One thing that can be said with confidence is that False had greatly improved since her Dodgebolt debut, in both her dodging and accuracy, which was only proved as she evaded both of George’s shots. If she could isolate Karl, she could pull off the 1v3 she’d been denied of having those months ago. And any doubt of that was cast away by Liam’s roar-like screams of “False Supremacy!” from the tops of his lungs. The chorus from the onlookers chased a bashful smile onto False’s face for a moment before determination overtook her once more.

With both charges, she intended to use both of them on George, to at least ensure a 1v1 that she could have a chance at winning. But her competitors had different plans as Karl crossed paths with George and took the ball of magnesium head-on. A growl escaped False’s lips, before the staff charged with magic and released with a burst of fury. It missed, and she gritted her teeth as she moved across the narrow arena with elegance and practiced skill.

The last Frankenstein, however, had a trained eye, and hit her with his second charge, evening out the score 1 to 1.

This happened two more times, a back-and-forth between teams. It was 2 to 2 now, the beginning of the fifth round. At this point, all the competitors who had been practicing in the various games of the arenas had stopped to watch the game, whether out of true interest or just simply to take a break from their own training. The crowd’s eyes were adding another layer of pressure on the Frankensteins, as the previously unbeaten 3 - 0 champions had been taken down to a 2 - 2 traded match point. Yet on the opposite side of the arena, where the walls were painted an arguably obvious shade of lime green, the four who stood in the placement circles were having the time of their lives, exchanging gestures and screams with the Cats and any other people on their side.

The countdown began, and the competitors were released from their standing points. Josh immediately slid for the spell charge, retreating to the left corner of the arena before surveying his opponents. The spell charge on the fuchsia side was gone from the center point.

Josh crossed paths with Ren, who muttered “Sapnap has,” before sliding away from him. With a nod of affirmation from his team, Josh summoned the arrow, seeing Sapnap suddenly begin to charge his wand. Josh was hit, but took Sapnap down with him, the trade evening the team numbers.

Ren took the charge on their side, narrowly missing a spell cast by George. False took the second charge, and waited for Ren to take his shot. Book floating from his hands, the werewolf lich shot his spell charge in the form of temporarily making the ground underfoot of the Frankensteins extra slippery, as he had the first round. It took out Karl, leaving the two best shots of the team against them. But they could do it, the Hermits believed, as did everyone else who spectated. Even friends of the Dream Team were cheering for the Liches. Why, one might ask?

Well, that’s because you should never count out the underdogs.

Both Frankensteins missed their shots, and False and Grian took initiative this time. 

“Who are you going for?” False muttered, keeping her eyes focused on the Frankensteins as she crept up to the arena line beside Grian.

“Dream is mine,” the golden blond growled, the lime green fireball floating off his hand. With a short nod, they fired together, lime fire streaking across the arena like falling stars. Grian growled in annoyance as he missed Dream, but gave False a passing high five as George was left to the sidelines with his fallen teammates. One kill away from victory, but the final kill was the most dangerous of them all.

Chants of “Dream 1 v 3” from the other Frankensteins littered the air around the arena. With two charges in his possession, Dream was capable of landing both his hits, and land both he did.

It came down to Dream and the Dreamslayer in a match point 1 v 1. The crowd held their breath as Grian pitched his first fireball, missing Dream by a mile and cursing under his breath.

Both individuals had one charge now, both beginning to charge up their weapons in preparation to take the potentially final blow. With the flick of his wrist, Dream took his shot first, the lightning bolt barely missing Grian. In the act of dodging, Grian’s fireball began to dissipate, and he rushed to bring it back. Grian crossed over the drop point and picked up the second charge, a second fireball forming in front of him. The golden blond aimed to launch the fireballs one at a time, but the swing of his scythe was a little more powerful than intended, and both went hurtling towards Dream.

The smiley masked man watched the fire in his peripheral, calculating one to cross in front of him and one to cross behind him. So, he simply stood still. But his trained eyes must’ve deceived him, for a perfectly misplaced ball of flame promised a direct hit on the side of his head. He only noticed it too late, forcing a yelp to burst from his mouth, and a globe of fuchsia sparks littered the air.

Joyous cheers filled the arena space as Grian spread his feathered wings and rose from the regenerating platform, his Lich traits wearing away, green melting into red. He was pulled from the sky into his teammates arms once within reach, the Blue Black Cats joining in on the group hug as well, crying with celebration.

It may not have been a real Dodgebolt, but it was an experience to remember as the former Lime Liches delivered unofficial avenging for the Blue Black Cats, restoring the respect of the Hermits, and once again putting the DreamTeam back in their place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Next chapter teaser? UwU~
> 
> _Josh glared at him, gesturing to his sitting position, hooves awkwardly crossed over each other._
> 
> _Liam’s eyes followed his gesture before reconnecting gazes with emerald eyes._
> 
> _“Okay, maybe not,”_


End file.
